Why is Kickboxing not a HIT in the U.S?

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hayz

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I remember watching K1 back in the day and loved it, SO much talent, so many cool finishes, so much entertainment. It was quite popular I thought, whereas Kickboxing today is honestly not even relevant anymore outside of a mega fight like Badr Hari v Rico Verhoeven (sp?).

I'm a HUGE Boxing fan but honestly in terms of PURE entertainment, even now I think Kickboxing is probably number 1. I was watching Joe Schillings last fight live a few months ago and that was SO great to watch, I think if we had a back and forth fight like that in MMA (Cub/Choi or Diaz/McGregor 2) it would have garnered SO much attention but since it's Kickboxing it's attention is pretty limited.

Is it a combination of factors? Or can a lack of talent, a lack of promotion, ruleset holding it back, lack of a McGregor-esque personality to carry it to blame?
 
Its mostly just because of the cultural history of America. Also I think a lot of Americans are used to MMA and the simplicity of almost all elite fighters being controlled by one giant English speaking promotion. Adapting isn't always easy.
 
There are tons of kickboxing promotions at the level of Bellator but they don"t get enough support mainly because combat sports aren"t supported anymore in Europe. Talent? Probably more than in UFC, even though the heavyweight division is lacking now compared to the K-1 golden era BUT still maybe better than in UFC. Kickboxing is wider spread than MMA.
 
a)Boxing (And now MMA) hoards the talent.
b)The reputation of Kickboxing in the US never recovered from the times of PKA in the 70' and 80'. American "Full contact" kickboxing was super lame.
 
Are you saying we can blame karate for Muay Thai not being more popular?

....

....


DANIEL-SAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fuckin karate......
 
KShaft said:
Are you saying we can blame karate for Muay Thai not being more popular?

....

....


DANIEL-SAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fuckin karate......
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Absolutely. It really is a shame that more people don't like kickboxing/Muay Thai, it really seems like it'd be a hit in NA.
 
hayz said:
I remember watching K1 back in the day and loved it, SO much talent, so many cool finishes, so much entertainment. It was quite popular I thought, whereas Kickboxing today is honestly not even relevant anymore outside of a mega fight like Badr Hari v Rico Verhoeven (sp?).

I'm a HUGE Boxing fan but honestly in terms of PURE entertainment, even now I think Kickboxing is probably number 1. I was watching Joe Schillings last fight live a few months ago and that was SO great to watch, I think if we had a back and forth fight like that in MMA (Cub/Choi or Diaz/McGregor 2) it would have garnered SO much attention but since it's Kickboxing it's attention is pretty limited.

Is it a combination of factors? Or can a lack of talent, a lack of promotion, ruleset holding it back, lack of a McGregor-esque personality to carry it to blame?
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It's starting, it just needs time. What kickboxing needs is 24/7 type shows. She need to see more of these duees outside of the ring so that we can develop relationships with them. what kicked off MMA so hard was The Ultimate Fighter reality show.
 
Nobody really sees it or even knows it exists. I've trained Kickboxing with people that have never even watched it. It's not a matter of everyone seeing it and just not liking the product.

It was more visible back when they used to show K-1 on ESPN2 and most people didn't have as many media options at that time compared to today. Coker was stripped of that ESPN2 deal by FEG which was the dumbest move ever.
 
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In truth I don't think any combat sports are hits outside of MMA and boxing. Boxing purely because its been part of the sporting world for a very long time and because of huge figures like Ali hyping the sport up, and MMA because of the controversy and perception of their being "no rules" in the early day.

I think MMA had success as an alternative and the reality TV shows that went with it when it was bought by Zuffa, but it's not like kickboxing wasn't around then, it's just that I don't think kickboxing seemed like an interesting enough alternative to boxing. Especially when a lot of people associated it with karate and "show" arts.
 
Because Full Contact left a bad taste in or mouths.
 
Snubnoze707 said:
Anyone under 30 years old never even seen any of that, and 20-30 is a big market.
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Don't matter there isn't a market Scott Coker even had to move to MMA away from Kickboxing due to that. Noboby is going to make it popular here even when K-1 was still around doing the Las Vegas GP it didn't take off.
 
tru3f4n said:
Don't matter there isn't a market Scott Coker even had to move to MMA away from Kickboxing due to that. Noboby is going to make it popular here even when K-1 was still around doing the Las Vegas GP it didn't take off.
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Again I don't see how you can claim that today it's not gaining traction simply because of that shiny pants association. I'm 33 years old and I can barely reccolect any of that shit from my childhood.

Scott Coker's Kickboxing attempts were stiffled by FEG they forced him to pull off of ESPN2. MMA was also heating up big time thanks to the UFC it was the logical choice.
 
Snubnoze707 said:
Wut?
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I've heard this many times. Could just be some joke.

Dunno if it's the exact cause, but I think alot of older Americans who grew up watching Boxing just didn't like watching anything other than a sport that revolved around punching.
 
Crimson Glory said:
I've heard this many times. Could just be some joke.

Dunno if it's the exact cause, but I think alot of older Americans who grew up watching Boxing just didn't like watching anything other than a sport that revolved around punching.
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Must be an anecdotal joke. MMA is doing just fine with all its kicking. Id say Americans have been cool with kicks since Bruce Lee blew up in the 70's.
 
Snubnoze707 said:
Again I don't see how you can claim that today it's not gaining traction simply because of that shiny pants association. I'm 33 years old and I can barely reccolect any of that shit from my childhood.

Scott Coker's Kickboxing attempts were stiffled by FEG they forced him to pull off of ESPN2. MMA was also heating up big time thanks to the UFC it was the logical choice.
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there was still the WCL that wasn't to long ago that was for all intent and purpose Full Contact bs. Nobody gives a shit about kickboxing here and without it being on tv it is nothing. Who's going to put it on tv here besides Spike and some paid channels for ppl to watch they already tried getting ppl to watch the Contender Asia on NBCsports and it did nothing. I doubt there's too many sports stations wanting it or are willing to push it here.
 
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